Buchert's 'prayer' answered as Libertyville stuns Lake Forest

With a flick of her off-shooting hand, Margaret Buchert both atoned and astonished.

And of the many people in Libertyville's gym watching Wednesday night's North Suburban Conference girls basketball showdown between the host Wildcats and Lake Forest, maybe no one was more surprised at the end than the hero herself.

Buchert, Libertyville's senior point guard, held her hands on her head, mouth agape, after somehow hitting a buzzer-beating hook shot from beyond the arc at the top of the key with a defender on her. The ball bounced off the glass and in, giving the Wildcats a 42-39 win and spilling Buchert's teammates onto the court to mob her.

"I didn't shoot the first one when I was open [in the closing seconds] because I didn't want to get blocked by Halle [Douglass]," Buchert said after finishing with a team-high 15 points, including the game-ending 3-pointer, her third of the game. "It was basically a prayer shot."

"I'm not surprised Margaret made that," the Wisconsin-bound Douglass said. "She's a great shooter. If anyone's going to make that shot, she will."

The win was the 11th in a row for Libertyville (15-4, 6-1), which avenged a 64-60 loss at Lake Forest in early December, while also taking over sole possession of first place in the NSC. Lake Forest (17-4, 6-2) was led by Douglass' 18 points (two 3s) and 5 rebounds.

"She took a shot we wanted her to take," Lake Forest coach Kyle Wilhelm said of Buchert's winner. "They got nothing they wanted on their set. ... She made a tough shot - sky hook, lefty, contested at the buzzer. It was a great shot."

Buchert's winner was especially pleasing for her since it was her pass at midcourt that Douglass stole, turning it into the tying layup for the Scouts with 49 seconds left.

"I made up for it," Buchert said of her turnover, which came after Lauren Huber (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) made her third 3 of the game to give Libertyville a 39-37 lead with 1:37 left.

Lake Forest, which has been without starting guard Molly Fisher (shoulder injury) for the last two weeks, lost starting forward Olivia Witte to a knee injury in the first quarter. Finola Summerville (8 points) then went out with an ankle injury in the final minute.

"I think had the [Buchert] shot not gone in, Finola would have been back in in overtime," Wilhelm said.

Libertyville, which trailed most of the night, including 22-17 at halftime and 32-27 after three quarters, outscored Lake Forest 15-7 in the fourth. Only Douglass scored in the quarter for the Scouts. She answered freshman Emily Fisher's game-tying free throws early in the fourth with a long 3-pointer and later showed off a Euro-step drive and finish.

Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen called a timeout to set up his team's final shot.

"We wanted to get the clock down really low because [Lake Forest] is so good at making a baseball pass and scoring," Pedersen said. "And Halle's good at making long steps, covering ground in four seconds and getting a good shot. We wanted to start moving literally with five seconds left."

When the play didn't develop as planned, Buchert had to "ad-lib," Pedersen said. Her miraculous shot avoided overtime, and Pedersen would have been content if an extra session was needed.

"I'll take the miss off the backboard," he said. "We were not giving them another shot."